Daily Soccer Fix: FanPosts

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2010-03-20T00:47:54Z

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A great explanation of the labor discord

2010-03-16T16:54:48Z

I came across this excellent piece while looking at Bruce McGuire's DuNord site. It essentially lays out why MLS has drawn such a hard line.

Lack of Competitiveness in CONCACAF

2010-03-12T06:33:26Z

There has long been a debate in the US and Mexico over the extent to which the lack of top level opponents within CONCACAF hurts their performance in World Cups and other major international competitions. Both the US and Mexico are pretty much guaranteed qualification to the World Cup and while others like Honduras and Costa Rica can occasionally put up a tough fight, they have trouble maintaining any kind of consistency.

But if this is a problem for CONCACAF's men's national teams, there is at least a little competition at that level. Two tournaments that got started this week got me thinking about just how much worse the situation is at the club level and in women's soccer.

First, the final rounds of the Concacaf Champions League began on Tuesday and once again it looks likely to become another all Mexican affair. It's true that Maraton did get a good home result against UNAM in San Pedro Sula, but they still have a way to go before we can consider them a serious threat to break the Mexican hegemony in this tournament. As for the MLS clubs, most of them got eliminated in the early rounds (as usual) and it will take a miracle for Columbus to pull out a win in its series after having dropped points at home.

We have to go back to 2004 and 2005 to find the last time the Mexicans failed to win the Conca Champions (losing out to Costa Rica's Alajuela and Saprissa in successive years). Since then it's just been a question of which Mexican club takes the tournament more seriously by giving it priority over the domestic league. In practice, this has usually meant a Mexican club towards the bottom of the table that has already given up on making the playoffs.

No wonder CONCACAF has done so poorly in the last few World Club Cups. There is no excuse for not getting at least third place in that tournament, but the last CONCACAF club to do so was Saprissa some five years ago. Can anyone really argue that a thoroughly mediocre Atlante side was the best that the region had to offer last year?

Unfortunately, this situation is unlikely to change as long as the Mexican clubs have no real regional opposition to give the Conca Champions a higher profile. Unfortunately, the top Costa Rican clubs are no longer able to hold on to their better players now that they are much more marketable in Europe and I don't see many signs of the MLS challenging the Mexicans anytime soon. In sum, the situation is pretty bleak.

The second regional tournament that got going this week was the final round of qualifying for the Under-17 Women's World Cup. If the lack of competitiveness in our confederation is a problem for men's soccer, it's even worse for the women.

The US has long dominated women's soccer in CONCACAF, but at least they had some competition in the past from the Canadians. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be so true any longer, at least at the youth level. Canada failed to even qualify for the last U17 and upcoming U20 World Cups. Costa Rica eliminated Canada on both occasions and while its undeniable that the Ticas (and Mexicans) have greatly improved in recent years, no one would consider either one to be powers in women's soccer.

Furthermore, while Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica are not top level opposition, they at least can occasionally give the US a good game. Once you get past those four, there really is nothing else. This point was brought home clearer then ever last night, when I was able to watch the first day of games of this latest qualifying tournament. The final scores really say it all:

US 9, Haiti 0

Costa Rica 7, Cayman Islands 0

Total shots on goal for both Caribbean teams combined was 2 (both by Haiti).

As if this weren't bad enough, tonight's games were almost as lopsided:

Mexico 6, Panama 0

Canada 4, Jamaica 1

So once again it looks like it will be down to the same four teams in the semifinals and I can't see the US having any real trouble taking first place. The American women face no one in CONCACAF that represents any kind of real test of how they'll do against the Europeans and Asians.

But perhaps the situation with women's soccer is not quite so hopeless. Or at least it isn't if other countries in the region can follow Costa Rica's example. Less than a decade ago, the Ticas were also getting regularly trounced by the US and Canada with lopsided scores. To make matters worse, Costa Rica can't count on repatriating girls from the US the way Mexico does (there is only one on this current U17 squad). But the federation could and did go on a major campaign to promote women's soccer by encouraging the formation of youth and high school leagues, helping develop a first division, and perhaps most importantly, using the same approach (and coaches) with the girls U17 and U20 national teams that have been so successful with the U17 and U20 boys (who have managed to make it to at least the second round in 7 out of the last 9 youth world cups to which they have qualified).

All this has been helped by a shift in attitudes that has really been quite amazing. When we first moved down here in the 90's, most Ticos laughed at the very idea of local girls playing soccer. Nowadays, the most popular girls in my son's high school are all on the soccer team.

While it may still be many years before the girls can hope to match the fourth place finish obtained by the boys last year in Egypt, it no longer sounds completely impossible. The U20's will likely go 3 and out again at the upcoming World Cup, but just wait another generation. After all, Costa Rica is even beginning to produce girls who should get at least a solid look from US Division 1 college coaches (beginning with Raquel Rodriguez, the star of both the U17 and U20 national teams).

MLS Strike

2010-03-12T04:53:26Z

So, the MLS players decided to strike if no CBA is reached by March 25th. The biggest issue is apparently the union's desire to challenge the single entity system. Now, let me be clear, I do not see how free agency would plunge the league into financial disaster if the salary cap was kept in place. If you can't spend say over $2 million, then you can't spend over $2 million, thus I am on the side of the players. I think the owners should put revenue sharing in place, despite the minimal revenues at the moment, and should adopt a restricted/unrestricted free agency policy like the NFL. Maybe to keep costs down, have the restriction be lifted after say 4 or 5 years. With that being said, I don't know if the decision to vote for a strike was a wise one. Bringing in a Federal mediator was a sign of good faith by both sides, a sign I fear the players may have pissed away. The truth is, soccer is still growing in this country, its not particularly profitable if at all so the owners have a point. In this case of labor relations, the owners are not the Andrew Carnegie's making billions while utilizing slave labor. My fear is, a strike may destroy everything. MLS fans are still by and large curious, still checking the league out. I should know, I am one of them. My first MLS game will be Red Bulls-Santos on the 20th. From what MLS I've seen at the end of last year and the CONCACAF game on Tuesday, I like what I see. I am quite sure there are many more out there like me, many of whom don't know the full story behind the labor talks. If they see MLS go away, will they ever come back? I'm not so sure they will. Hockey for example, is still struggling after that lockout. With that scary prospect of the fledgling American soccer fanbase disappearing, isn't it possible the owners, who for the most part have lost money, just throw their hands up and say good riddance? That is what I am afraid of. I think the players should have played the season on good faith and gone from there. They should have gone on strike next season. The players best bet right now is that Columbus beats Toluca next Wednesday. That way the owners are a little more eager to bargain so they're not embarrassed by having to forfeit in the semis of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Why no CONCACAF Champions League?

2010-03-09T17:31:52Z

I'm relatively new to the club soccer world. Always followed the International game, rooting hard for the U.S. but this is the first year that I've followed the club level and obviously love it. So I'm thinking about the UEFA Champions League going on and I'm thinking how cool it would be to have MLS teams in something similar, then I go and look and find out that there is a CONCACAF Champions League, and the only MLS team left, Columbus Crew play Mexican team, Toluca tonight.

I scour ESPN for some sort of news or preview or talk of the game and don't find a thing. The MLS front page doesn't have a word of it. I figure I might see something posted here but still no. So then my question becomes why not? Does no one really care about this tournament because we are not in Europe?

Just hoping to get some discussion going and become informed why there isn't more media discussion about this?

I know one thing, I would be a lot more interested in MLS if I was informed about this tournament going on and I think a lot of other Americans would too. I'm glad I know about it now and it will definitely add to the enjoyment of watching the MLS season.

Greece Riots Should Warn South Africa re: Hosting Major Sports Tournaments

2010-03-05T20:54:41Z

So Greece had another day of major rioting today as their government passed a big austerity measure to cut spending and raise taxes to close their budget gap so they can continue receiving fiscal aid from the EU via monetary policy. The austerity measure "aims to save 4.8 billion euros ($6.5 billion) with measures including higher consumer taxes and cuts to public sector workers' pay of up to 8 percent." [link] This comes after Greece borrowed heavily to host the Athens 2004 Olympics. The total cost of hosting that tournament for Greece's government was 8.954 billion euros (about $11.2 billion in 2004). [link] Boy, do they sure wish they had even half of those funds now! After the 2 week party of the 2004 Olympics was over, Greece was left with a bunch of stadiums that it doesn't use anymore (and are falling apart) and 11 billion dollars in debt. I hope it was at least a fun party.

This should be a cautionary tale for South Africa and any other developing or smaller developed country that wants to host a major sports tournament. These tournaments cost far more to host than you will recoup. There is a really good summary of the academic literature on this subject in the recent book Soccernomics. If you want to spend public money on the economy, do it on something economically useful like public education, health care, or your transportation network. It is extremely wasteful to do it on giant stadiums that you only use once every other week for a few hours for 6 months out of the year.

The cost to South Africa to host the world cup is a reported $3.7 billion, and could go higher with cost overruns. [link] South Africa is a developing country with a slowly growing middle class but it still has a large population of poor people. This amount of money should have been spent on something else more economically useful that would have made a real difference in the lives of South Africa's poor. I also hope that the government of South Africa does a better job of planning their budget around this debt so that they do not end up with the same kind of national crisis that Greece has right now.

I love the beautiful game as much as anyone, but the idea that Sepp Blatter and FIFA are doing these poorer countries favors or helping them out economically when they give them major tournaments is absurd and damaging.

US-El Salvador: Who helped and who hurt their chances?

2010-02-25T02:43:46Z

Well, we know more about the fringe of the WC roster than we did yesterday. Said Rob Stone during the match: "Coach Bradley indicated that 16-18 players have already made the roster." With five or more slots up for grabs, who helped and who hurt their chances of grabbing one?

My thoughts:

Helped

Ching. Poor man's McBride? Maybe. But beggars can't be choosers. Ching showed hustle, poise, and intelligence. His aerial ability is at the top of the MNT forward pool, and his volley off a Jeff Cunningham service tested Ramires well. What's more, he also showed a crucial element that the rest of the forward pool is still developing: leadership. I'm thinking in particular of how he turned Rogers' impulsive strike at Ramires' near post into a learning opportunity, pointing out what the young winger should have done.
Rogers. Showed pace and initiative. Most creative player of the evening. Masterful cutbacks, excellent service. Nice work with his right foot as well as his left. Shows a mature awareness of when to push forward and when to look laterally. An asset in dead ball situations. Big questions about his fitness, though. He's not a 90-minute player yet, and you could see that when he gets tired, he gets impulsive and less aware. Super sub?
Goodson. Showed aerial dominance, but how much does that count for against an opponent as short as El Salvador? I was more impressed with his positioning and organization at the back, consistently finding the right place to be to interrupt the Salvadoran offense. Certainly made a case for himself for fourth-string CB.
Kljestan. I was more impressed with his hustling and tackling than I was with his vision, but if hustling and tackling is what we need (and, thinking about trying to hold onto a precious lead late into a WC game, I think it is), then Kljestan made a case for himself. Case in point: the clutch repossession and finishing in the dying minutes of the game. How many other players on the pitch could have done the same at that moment?
Casey. I've never known what Casey does so well that he deserves international minutes. I think I finally learned tonight. He plays well with his back to goal, bodying up on defenders and punishing defensive miscues with a deadly through ball or pass out to the wing. He's got no pace, though, and I don't trust his ability to finish his chances in international matches. I'd say that Ching has more to offer than Casey.
Pearce. Cool on the ball, decent tackling. He was caught up the field a few times, but he was also a solid offensive contributor, creating a number of chances throughout the match, including the excellent service for Ching's goal. Do the pros outweigh the cons? And how does Coach Bradley like him compared to Bornstein? He did well on the night, but I wonder if Pearce has done enough to win a roster spot.
Gaven. Won some free kicks in great positions and had some decent leading passes, too. Constant bother for the Salvadoran fullback. But would he be strong enough to withstand bigger, stronger tacklers at the WC?

Hurt

Evans. Sophomore mistake to gift El Salvador the goal. Where was the communication?
Davis. Had some good service, but didn't track back as well as I thought he would. I can't say that he contributed on offense more than he failed to defend. Also, he seemed to dribble into traffic pretty frequently, which says to me that he doesn't quite know where to put himself off the ball.

I'd say that these two are really the only ones who hurt their chances for making the squad, if they were ever in serious contention anyways. Their good play in the MLS doesn't seem to translate internationally. Besides the players mentioned above, I think the rest of the squad played decently and came out no worse for wear on the night, but no better, either.

What do y'all think?

FSC HD FAIL

2010-02-07T20:38:18Z

FSC HD supposedly launched in January, after a seemingly endless wait. Yet as we all know, barely anyone gets the channel because most of the major providers did not pick the channel up. FSC FAIL.

FSC needs to up its campaign to get providers to pick up its HD channel. Maybe MLS should step in and offer some dough to add more incentive. This is getting absolutely ridiculous.

Sports I can get in HD right now on Sunday morning using Comcast Bay Area, just going down my channel list:

PGA Golf
NFL
NBA
NCAAB Men's
Golf Lessons
Snowboarding
Track and Field
NHL
Baseball - Caribbean World Series
Nascar
NCAAB Women's (2 diff games on 2 different HD channels)
Polish Motorcycle Racing
Deer Hunting

Meanwhile FSC is sitting there in standard definition for the FREAKING ARSENAL CHELSEA GAME! )(#$(!&!)@#$&!!! The most popular sport in the world can't even get HD before NCAA women's basketball, golf lessons, track and field, snowboarding, polish motorcycle racing, and deer hunting?!?!?!?! This is absolutely ridiculous.

MLS schedule released

2010-02-03T20:34:36Z

Where are you going to be on March 25? Maybe in Seattle, watching the Sounders take on the expansion Philadelphia Union at Qwest Field in the MLS season debut. The entire MLS schedule is here.

Demise of the Sol

2010-02-02T00:34:55Z

Here's a good read on what happened to the WPS franchise that shut down suddenly last week. It's by veteran writer Scott French.

Aly Wagner's retirement

2010-01-27T17:03:00Z

From veteran writer Scott French, here's a good take on the early retirement of Aly Wagner. She is just 29, but has been hammered by calf and hamstring injuries in recent years.

Michelle Akers benefit

2010-01-26T19:43:36Z

Back during the 1999 Women's World Cup, I was never sure that Michelle Akers quite got her due. Mia Hamm was the darling of the team, America's Sweetheart. Brandi Chastain did the sports bra thing that became an iconic moment. Julie Foudy went on to be a successful broadcaster, and on it goes. But I always thought Akers was the glue, holding everything together. And, man, could that woman play.

Akers is in retirement now ... and she needs a bit of help. Her farm near Atlanta was flooded, and the Atlanta Beat is partnering with an on-line auction to help restore the farm. Details are here at the Beat's website.

South Africa Ticket sales much slower than organisers expected

2010-01-21T20:26:41Z

I am not at all surprised by the news coming out of SA that ticket sales are much lower than expected. This has the look of Korea/Japan all over again, when hundreds of thousands of tickets went unsold, and stadiums were half empty despite organizers giving away tens of thousands of free tickets at the last second to try to get people to come out.

Dutch and German football authorities have already confirmed that supply has far exceeded demand for tickets for their matches, and tomorrow England fans are likely to find themselves in the unusual position of discovering that requests have not exceeded the number on offer.

Average attendance at Korea/Japan was only 40,000, compared with 52,000 in 2006, 43,000 in 1998, 68,000 in 1994, and 48,000 in 1990. Also, that 40,000 figure for Korea/Japan is inflated because tens of thousands of those in "attendance" received free tickets the day of or day before the match. Looks like we will be facing this crap all over again this summer.

Also, this should dispel once and for all the myth that holding major sports tournaments is an economic boon to countries. It's not, as has been shown in the recent book Soccernomics. It's a tremendous waste of (limited) resources that should be spent on actual economic revitalization programs and education in a developing country like South Africa.

Just look at Greece, a country far more developed than South Africa. Their stadiums from the Athens Olympics are falling apart and are in a state of disrepair, and the government is still mired in a massive amount of debt that it undertook to pay for these one-and-done, economically useless projects. They don't even use two thirds of the stadiums anymore.

The Next Landon Donovan

2010-01-20T01:59:22Z

Which is really like asking - Who is the next face of American soccer?

In the 1990s it was Kasey Keller. We didn't have our own league for most of the decade, but the grandest moments all featured the now Sounders FC Keeper. Be it the amazing match versus Brazil, or the decent World Cups that we have had, it was Kasey Keller that was as much the face of American soccer as any. He was a name that a general sports fan knew.

In the Aughts that face became Landon Donovan. Sure, he had the two stints in Europe that didn't go well, but in Qualifying for World Cups he was the man. In League play there was no American player better over the decade. If anyone was the face of both Club and Country it was Landon. Sure, there were some better players - McBride, Dempsey - but they were not MLS stars per se, but global. It was Landon that was the symbol of the League and Nation at the same time. An MVP and the US Player of Year so often the award should bear his name.

As Donovan gets more love in Everton than could be expected, while entering the post-prime portion of his career the question becomes "Who is NEXT?"

My initial thought is Stuart Holden. He is wise beyond his years. Plays a "skill" position, and is entering his prime. With the openings on the National Team he has that opportunity to make a name for himself on the national stage.
Just one problem - there is a strong chance he isn't in the league next year, let alone for a significant time.

The list after that is filled with potential, but with even less that they have proven on the Club and Country stage.

ESPN once asked "Who's got NEXT?" and the answer was Adu.

We know now that the answer was wrong.

So who can carry the banner of MLS and USA at the same time over the next decade?

The 411 on FIFA Women's U-20 Tourney

2010-01-19T23:36:12Z

By Scott French

The U.S. women's under-20 team is in Guatemala "attempt(ing) to earn a berth to the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Germany," as it's termed in U.S. Soccer's media release.

"Attempt" is an understatement of unimaginable proportions. The U.S. will win the Jan. 20-30 CONCACAF U-20 qualifying tournament, rather easily, too, and if it doesn't, what a disaster! Now the Americans might not prevail in Germany this summer -- the Germans are good, and never count out Brazil or North Korea -- but they'll be battling, no question, for the World Cup title July 13-Aug. 1.

UCLA coach Jill Ellis has included in her qualifying roster two players from the U.S. team that won the 2008 U-20 World Cup in Chile and eight from the team that lost in the 2008 U-17 World Cup final to North Korea. The big star, among many, is UCLA sophomore forward Sydney Leroux, who scored five goals to win the Golden Shoe (as top scorer) and Golden Ball (as MVP) at the last U-20 championship.

Leroux, who was born near Vancouver and represented Canada at the 2004 U-19 World Cup -- the precursor to the U-20 tourament -- was a third-team NSCAA All-American last fall, scoring 23 goals in 24 games as the Bruins reached the NCAA Division I semifinals. Leroux's father is American and mother is Canadian.

Also from the 2008 U-20 squad is Penn State freshman midfielder Christine Nairn (7 goals, 10 assists), the only player on the team with a full international cap.

The U-17 veterans are led by 2008 Golden Glove winner (as top goalkeeper) Taylor Vancil, Silver Shoe recipient (as the tournament's No. 2 scorer) Vicki DiMartino and Bronze Ball winner (as the third-best player) Kristie Mewis.

DiMartino and Mewis just finished fine freshman seasons at Boston College. DiMartino, a forward for the Eagles but an outside back for the U-20s, was a second-team NSCAA All-American after scoring 14 goals (six of them game-winners) with six assists. She has two older sisters in Women's Professional Soccer: Tina, a second-year midfielder with the L.A. Sol, and Gina, a forward out of BC who was taken by Boston in the sixth round of Friday's WPS Draft.

Mewis, a midfielder, was BC's s No. 4 scorer with five goals and six assists. She's joined by her sister, Samantha, a high school senior who also played in the 2008 U-17 tournament.

Vancil was Louisville's No. 1 goalkeeper as a freshman.

The other U-17 World Cup vets are North Carolina defender Amber Brooks, Stanford defender Rachel Quon and high-schoolers Crystal Dunn, a defender, and Elizabeth Eddy, a midfielder. A full roster is below.

The U.S. will open Group B play Thursday (Jan. 21) against Jamaica, then face Trinidad & Tobago on Saturday (Jan. 23) and Mexico next Monday (Jan. 25). Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba and Guatemala are in Group A. Semifinals are Jan. 28, with the final and third-place game Jan. 30. The top three will advance to the World Cup.

Fox Soccer Channel will show both semifinals and the title game. All 16 games will be streamed for free at CONCACAF's video Web site:http://www.concacaftv.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Home/0,,12907,00.html

Canada coach Carolina Morace's roster features 10 players at U.S. universities: Virginia Commonwealth defender Molly Allen, Maryland midfielder Rachel Lamarre, Penn State defender Lexi Marton, West Virginia defender Bryanna McCarthy, South Florida defender Bahar Sansar and midfielders Rehana Murani, Gina Pachecho and Taylor Patterson,Vanderbilt midfielder/forward Chelsea Stewart, and Rutgers defender/midfielder Shannon Woeller.

Marton, Woeller and 2009 Canadian Player of the Year Stewart were on Canada's roster at the 2008 U-20 World Cup, and Lamarre, McCarthy, goalkeeper Cynthia Leblanc and defender Shelina Zadorsky were at the 2008 U-17 World Cup.

Mexico has six Americans on its roster, including defensive anchor Alina Garciamendez, a Stanford freshman from from Texas. Most of the teams in the competition have players on the roster from the U.S. or based at U.S. schools.

Germany, England, France, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Sweden and Switzerland have already qualified for the World Cup, which will be played in Bochum, Bielefeld, Augsburg and Dresden.

A full schedule:

Wednesday, Jan. 20: Canada vs. Costa Rica, Cuba vs. Guatemala.
Thursday, Jan. 21: USA vs. Jamaica, Mexico vs. Trinidad & Tobago.
Friday, Jan. 22: Canada vs. Cuba, Costa Rica vs. Guatemala.
Saturday, Jan. 23: USA vs. Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica vs. Mexico.
Sunday, Jan. 24: Canada vs. Guatemala, Costa Rica vs. Cuba.
Monday, Jan. 25: USA vs. Mexico, Jamaica vs. Trinidad & Tobago.
Thursday, Jan. 28: Semifinals.
Saturday, Jan. 30: Final and third-place game.

U.S. ROSTER
With school/club and hometown and 2009 college Games-Starts/Goals-Against Average or Goals-Assists where warranted

Goalkeepers
Bianca Henninger (Santa Clara; Los Gatos, Calif.): 19-17/0.84
Taylor Vancil (Louisville; South Elgin, Ill.): 17-16/1.43

Defenders
Amber Brooks (North Carolina; New Hope, Pa.): 27-15/0-3
Vicki DiMartino (Boston College; Massapequa, N.Y.): 24-24/14-6
Crystal Dunn (South Side HS/Albertson SC; Rockville Centre, N.Y.), will attend North Carolina
Kendall Johnson (Portland; Portland, Ore.): 21-16/3-3
Toni Pressley (Florida State; Melbourne, Fla.): 25-25/2-6
Rachel Quon (Stanford; Lake Forest, Ill.): 24-24/0-4

Midfielders
Zakiya Bywaters (UCLA; Las Vegas): 25-23/2-7
Elizabeth Eddy (Newport Harbor HS/So Cal Blues, Costa Mesa, Calif.), will attend USC
Kristie Mewis (Boston College; Hanson, Mass.): 23-23/5-6
Samantha Mewis (Whitman-Hanson Regional HS/Scorpion SC; Hanson, Mass.), will attend UCLA
Christine Nairn (Penn State; Bowie, Md.): 21-19/7-10
Teresa Noyola (Stanford; Palo Alto, Calif.): 26-20/6-3
Jenna Richmond (Centreville HS/McLean SC; Centreville, Va.), will attend UCLA
Casey Short (Florida State; Naperville, Ill.): 13-7/0-5

Forwards
Maya Hayes (Newark Academy/Aristics Club; West Orange, N.J.), will attend Penn State
Sydney Leroux (UCLA; Vancouver, British Columbia/Phoenix): 24-24/23-2
Morgan Marlborough (Nebraska; Raymore, Mo.): 19-19/21-7
Tiffany McCarty (Florida State; Laurel, Md.): 25-25/17-7

Poland freed from disappointing

2009-11-25T21:24:14Z

The Polish Men's national soccer team didn't qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This came after two back-to-back first round exits in the last two FIFA World Cups. I see this as something positive though. In my mind, not making the trip to South Africa next year saves Poland from another disappointment, which is crashing out after the group stage. What's the point of going to every World Cup just to play three games? I rather not see Poland on soccer's biggest stage every four years if they're going to go three and out every time. Not qualifying actually spares a team like Poland further embarrassment and ruining their forefathers' previous successes at the World Cup. Poland used to play awesome at the World Cup, with players like Lato, Tomaszewski, Deyna, Lubanski, Szarmach, Zmuda, Boniek. They took home the Bronze Medal twice-in 1974 and 1982, and got Gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics, stopping legendary Hungary in the final. They were Silver Medalists four years later-in 1976, falling to East Germany in the Gold Medal Match.

There are also other laurels on the Polish national team's resume. Grzegorz Lato, the star forward, won the Golden Shoe in the 1974 World Cup, Zbigniew Boniek became the first Eastern European player to play for a major club abroad-Juventus Turin, and other Polish players won top scorer awards at Olympic tournaments, including Andrzej Juskowiak in Barcelona in 1992 when Poland settled for second place Olympic Silver for a second time. With this said, the more that Poland goes to World Cups and gets bounced out in the first round, the more worse it's going to look for a team with a rich football tradition.

Poland's opening match loss to Ecuador in the last World Cup was disgraceful, and the Poles were on most people's list of making it out of the group. I think that the expectations set forth for the "White and Red" were too high. Poland's first round group from '06 was the easiest in their FIFA World Cup history. So if they couldn't get the job done against mediocre opposition, then they most likely wouldn't get the job done versus similar or tougher opponents at the upcoming World Cup. They are just so unpredictable for their own dis-benefit. I am aware of Polish soccer history and therefore know that the teams of the past were absolute dynamite. In 1974, Poland had the best team in the world. They were the "unofficial" 1974 FIFA World Cup Champions in some people's eyes, after a miserably wet pitch in the semifinal of that World Cup tied up their speedy legs and gave the hosts, West Germany, more luck and the eventual winning goal to make it 1-0. So it was the West Germans who played the Dutch in the final in Munich that year instead of "Gorski's Eagles." West Germany went on to win that World Cup.

With UEFA EURO 2012 around the corner, Poland has to do everything in their power with coach Smuda to turn things around so they don't repeat Austria's first round ouster from 2008 as a co-host. I fear seeing Poland going out in the first round at EURO 2012 just like they did at the last two World Cups. For EURO 2012, a quadrennial football tournament showcasing Europe's elite national teams, Poland will get lucky if they can somehow squeeze of out the first round and advance to the quarterfinals. I hope that everyone realizes that this is the only thing Poland can do at this point in a tournament like the European Football Championship. If they can pull it off (which I want so much), then that would be a big success. Poland hasn't progressed from the first round of a major football tournament since the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. In 2008 they failed to move on after three games in their European Championship debut in Austria. So by 2012 it'll be 26 years that Poland has been stuck and unable to get to the second round in a World Cup or European Cup. Therefore, I'd say it's about time to break that trend and start playing at least four games at a major competition. If they can get past their opposition on home soil in round #1, then that will kind of make up for the failed attempts at the two World Cups in the 2000's.

The Polish side has given us highlights of good play during the 2000's in various matches against mixed opposition. In 2002, Poland displayed only what might of been and what their fans dreamt of for the first two games, with a 3-1 win vs the USA in the final group game of that year's World Cup. Four years later, Poland beat another defeated team like themselves also in what was the final group match of a World Cup, as they wrote off Costa Rica 2-1. A game earlier in this same World Cup the Poles held Germany scoreless for 90 minutes until Swiss substitute Oliver Neuville crashed the Polish party by scoring off of a David Odonkor pass to steal the show and give Germany the 1-0 win. Then nearly a year and a half later, Poland sealed their first-ever UEFA European Championship qualification in 13 attempts. That following year, in 2008, Poland traveled to Austria as one of the underdogs of EURO 2008. What they did in this tourney however that they didn't do in the previous two World Cups was not lose the first two games of the group. Against tournament co-hosts Austria in the second game Poland was on its way to a win until a Howard Webb-assigned penalty kick gave Austria a tying goal and made the final score be 1-1. Poland played considerably well in this game for a good 60 minutes since opening up the scoring.

There is no doubt that Poland's biggest dilemma since returning to the world stage earlier this decade for the first time since 1986 has been poor defense. At the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups, coupled in with UEFA EURO 2008, the "White and Red" allowed 15 goals! This isn't good news for a team that only managed to score a total of 6 goals over the course of these three tournaments. It looks like Poland could use a little help from Italy-caliber defenders. Despite this, Poland have not really had a problem in goal over the course of this period. This is thanks to Celtic Glasgow's Artur Boruc, who received regular call-ups to the national team during Leo Beenhakker's throne. The fact that the Poles conceded eight goals at the 2006 World Cup and EURO 2008 combined was mostly his teammates' fault, the slouchy defenders, not his. With all this information, what could Poland honestly be able to accomplish at the 2010 World Cup even if they qualified? Maybe score one or no goals while losing all three group matches in my worst nightmare.

Poland is in its biggest footballing crisis to date (currently ranked 56th by FIFA), and so the way the team has been playing lately is humiliating and scary to watch. In fact, if they traveled to Africa, then their performance would have the possibility of being the worst in the national team's history in the World Cup (even worse than the showing from the 2006 World Cup!). This is why something needs to be done soon to fix this problem so that Polish fans can enjoy EURO 2012 in peace, not in dismay, having to wipe their tears away.

Dear Soccer:

2009-11-16T18:42:39Z

My name is Marginal Fan, I am the guy you need to make Soccer a mainstream sport in the US. Let me start by saying I LOVE watching USMNT games, and I played select soccer until I switched to american football in high school. I have since moved to Mexico and live in Torreon and have become a big Santos Laguna fan. So soccer is growing on me for sure, but let me fill you in on a huge complaint from the marginal fan. Whats with the tie? Here is the deal, I just spent all week getting pumped up for the Santos vs Club America game in Torreon yesterday. End result......1-1 tie. Whats the deal? What harm is there in going to PK's and having a winner. Winner in the PK gets 2 pts, loser in PK gets 1. That way the loser still gets there point for the regulation tie, and we actually have a winner. I know that huge soccer junkies will tear this system apart as not being purist, but lets face it, the purist attitude has not taken pro soccer very far in the States and I really think its time for a change. Just my thoughts, have fun ripping me a new one, but remember Soccer, the marginal fan is the one you need!

Best,

Marginal Fan

Bechkahm Still Big in America

2009-11-14T22:47:13Z

Seattle Sounders FC and MLS have opened up 6,000 more seats just because the LA Galaxy made the Cup Final. This is on top of the just under 36,000 that were already sold. It looks like they have added several sections of the West 300 level to their sales target and with Ticketmaster charges these seats are 30$ each.

I can almost guaruntee that they will expand seating more after tonight's Fire v RSL match, particularly if the team with two National Team legends wins.

How big can soccer get indeed?

42,000 is the new "sellout" for Qwest Field and the MLS Cup Final. It will be intriguing to see if a record is set for attendence in a Final without the local team participating.

IF you are coming please register for the Supporters Summit.

A glance at the MLS playoff teams on ESPN Soccernet

2009-10-26T18:01:21Z

My Monday piece at Soccernet looks at all eight teams, how each one could win it and where they might trip up. Tell me where I'm right and wrong ...

U.S. assistant Dave Dir looks back on the Under-20 tournament

2009-10-14T22:42:47Z

Our man Buzz Carrick at his excellent web site 3rdDegree.net has a great post from U.S. under-20 assistant manager Dave Dir, who has some interesting things to say about Major League Soccer's imploded reserve league. It's a good read.